8 • Lesson 6 Word List

(n) 1. Total absence of government.
Government officials fled, leaving the country in a state of anarchy.

2. Lack of order; total confusion.
After the Iraq War ended in 2011, the country was in a state of anarchy with no established law enforcement in place.

(v) 1. To seize; to arrest.
John Brown was apprehended when he tried to confiscate weapons at Harper?s Ferry, Virginia, in 1859.

2. To grasp the meaning of; to understand.
When Celia talked about her lost dreams of being a dancer, we immediately apprehended how upset she was.

(v) To bring before a court to face charges.
The man who vandalized the artwork has been arraigned and will soon go to trial for his actions.

(v) 1. To absorb into a population.
By the second generation, the immigrants had been assimilated into Canadian society.

2. To take in a part and absorb into the whole.
The students assimilated the new information, then began to apply it.

(adj) Strikingly out of the ordinary; peculiar.
The terrifying clown mask, resting in a bed of violets near the side of the road, created a bizarre image.

(n) An event that causes great suffering and harm; a disaster.
The train engineer averted a calamity by slamming on the brakes as soon as she saw the car stalled on the tracks.

calamitous (adj) Disastrous.
Filling in these wetlands to build a mall has been calamitous for the songbirds that migrated here each year.

(v) 1. To plan together secretly to do something wrong or illegal.
The high school students had conspired to cut school, but their parents learned of their plan.

2. To join or act together.
The beautiful weather, good friends, and delicious food conspired to make the weekend at the beach one I will always remember.

conspiracy (n) A joining with others to plan or carry out unlawful acts.
The conspiracy of the German officers to kill Hitler failed on July 20, 1944.

(n) A difference of opinion; disagreement.
Because there was so much dissension at the student council meeting about the plans for the school dance, there is still no date or theme chosen.

(v) To pass or slip by (used with time).
Five years elapsed before they saw their cousins again.

(adj) About to happen; likely to occur in the very near future.
The clouds rolling in made rain seem imminent.

(v) To ask questions of, especially in a thorough or formal manner.
The assistant principal will interrogate the students involved in the fight to learn what might have caused it.

interrogation (n) The act of questioning.
?This feels like an interrogation!? Ezekiel said to his parents when they questioned him about where he had been all evening.

(v) To treat as a celebrity.
After he won the national chess championship, Kwame was lionized by his classmates.

(adj) Extremely careful; attentive to small details.
All the parachutists gave their gear a meticulous final check before leaping from the plane.

(n) 1. A ring or band put around the arm or leg to prevent free movement.
The pirates? captives were crammed into ships where they sat in shackles for the duration of the voyage.

2. Something that prevents free action.
Kevin hoped he could throw off the shackles of poor study habits when he left for college.

(v) To prevent freedom of action.
High school dropouts often find that their lack of education shackles them to low-paying jobs.

(v) To suffer from or to be overcome by great heat.
We sweltered in the hot sun because there was no shade in the field where we were playing soccer.

sweltering (adj) Very hot and humid; uncomfortable because of extremely hot weather.
Going for a swim is the best way to cool down on a sweltering July day.